IRA
"The Irish had the balls to get their country back. A soldier who's willing to die for the sake of the cause is dangerous." - Peter Crowe, IRA weapons expert "You can not take a man's country and expect him to bow down. It's not going to happen, especially with an Irishman." - Skoti Collins, IRA descendant/historian The Irish Republican Army (IRA), unstoppable urban guerrillas who waged a bloody savage war for Irish independence; vs. the Taliban, hardline religious extremist, who back their beliefs with bullets. In the Back for Blood, the IRA fought Spetsnaz. Stats *Height - 5' 11" *Weight - 180 lbs *Armor - none *Gear - 30 lbs *Symbol - Raised Fist Symbol (used to symbolize rebellion or solidarity, commonly used by the IRA) History Ireland was one of the few nations during the Dark Ages that was stable and economically wealthy (relatively speaking) due to the island's location. Christians immigrated to the island to avoid the chaos within the European mainland. Saint Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates in the second half of the 400s AD. He escaped 6 years later and would later return to Ireland as a bishop. While Catholics most likely existed in Ireland before St. Patrick; his contributions were significant in the church's establishment of the island. Ireland was first invaded and conquered by the English in the 1100s by the Normans. In the 1400s; Ireland had the majority of its territory independent as the English were too weakened from the Black Death and War of the Roses. King Henry the VIII began a new conquest of Ireland in 1569; with the last province Ulster captured from the Nine Years War in 1603. In the early 1600s under James I he ordered Protestant settlers to move into the province to make a permanent English settlement and government in what is now known as Northern Ireland. The political conflict between the invading Protestants and the native Catholics would continue even today, 400 years later. The English began the process of stealing Catholic wealth and land and giving it to British Protestant settlers. In April 1653 the Irish lost a revolutionary war known as the Irish Confederate Wars. Oliver Cromwell led a violent campaign of terror and destruction during the war, destroying Irish towns and infrastructure, removing all Catholic nobles from Ireland (or at least removing their wealth and property) except for the poorer regions of the west like the province Galway and massacring Irish, including civilians. Between 24 May – 12 October 1798 the United Irishmen attempted a revolt against the UK; which was busy in the Napoleonic Wars and still weakened from the American Revolution. Despite this; the revolt failed. The Acts of Union in 1800 were laws that unified Ireland under it's larger neighbor the United Kingdom (put in place to put a stronger hold onto Ireland to prevent further uprisings). However the racist, religious and cultural divide between Catholic Irishmen and Protestants of the UK made the English dominate Ireland's politics: preventing Irish politicians to rule Ireland while still identifying Ireland as a different nation than the UK. During this time the farmland of Catholics shrunk drastically and food was replaced by more luxurious cash crops. From the mid 1840s to 1852 a potato famine caused by a Potato Blight (and intensified by the government's avoidance of relief efforts due to its anti-catholicism) killed millions of Irishmen and forced over 4 million to leave the country, mostly to America. These numbers are enormous since Ireland's population before the famine was only 8 million. The Irish that escaped the famine by moving to other countries still faced heavy discrimination; as the Irish were viewed as inhuman and barbaric. In America for example; while the Irish sometimes could blend in with the white majority population they were still targeted by discriminating political policies and were frequently targeted by hate groups and lynch mobs, especially by the Protestant Ku Klux Klan. Cathloics (especially, but not limited to the Irish) were accused of attempting influence or overthrow American politics in a theocratic conspiracy led by the Pope. Irish were even called the N-word (or White 'N-word's) as they ended up in similar slums that the persecuted Black population faced. Outraged by the British for doing little to ease the famine and accusing the UK of intentionally committing genocide, rebel factions within Ireland began to form. One of these factions was the Irish Republican Brotherhood which led the Fenian Rising of 1867. Like the IRA 100 years later, the Brotherhood launched terrorist attacks and bombings against the British and protestants within Ireland. However most Irish uprisings during the 1800s were too poorly organized to fight the might of The British Empire. The IRA today honor this revolt and sees those leaders as martyrs. The Second Boer War was one of the last failed revolts by Irish against the UK. From 1899 to 1902 a region of the colonial British territory of South Africa attempted to rebel against the UK. Many Irishmen joined both sides, but the idea that the Irish were willing to fight the British allowed a new movement for independence within Ireland. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) was an Irish republican revolutionary military organization, founded to liberate Ireland from the 800 years of discrimination, oppression and massacres by the English. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916. In 1919, the Irish Republic that had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising was formally established by an elected assembly (Dail Eireann), and the Irish Volunteers were recognized by Dail Eireann as its legitimate army. Thereafter, the IRA waged a guerrilla campaign against British rule in Ireland in the 1919-1921 Irish War of Independence. As the UK was preoccupied with WWI, which led to economic collapse and heavy casualties, the UK had few options in combating the Irish. War World I also created fears that the UK would launch a mass conscription to continue the desperate war, and would focus this draft on the Irish. Following the signing in 1921 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which ended the War of Independence, a split occurred within between both Ireland and the IRA. A free state was established in the predominately Catholic area while the mostly Protestant north-east remained in the UK. IRA members who supported the treaty formed the nucleus of the Irish National Army founded by the IRA leader Michael Collins. However, much of the IRA was opposed to the treaty. The anti-treaty IRA fought a civil war with their former comrades in 1922-1923, with the intention of creating a fully independent United Republic of Ireland. Having lost the civil war, this group remained in existence, with the intention of overthrowing both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland and achieving the Irish Republic proclaimed in 1916. The first IRA groups were the Irish rebels of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War of the early 1920s. Some of these groups would evolve into the modern day IRA groups. In 1923, Ireland officially gained independence from England, but Northern Ireland was still controlled by the UK. While the period known as The Troubles wouldn't exist until 46 years later; the IRA did occasionally attack the UK. One infamous campaign was the S-Plan; starting in 16 January 1939 (shortly before WWII began for the UK) and ending March 1940. The IRA launched bombings and attacks within England itself as an act of sabotage. While 10 English died, the damage was extremely minor, especially compared to the upcoming WWII. There is evidence to suggest that the S-Plan was a Nazi conspiracy in preparation for the Nazi's declaration of war against the UK. The rumored co-operation between Irish Nationalists and Nazis further raised tensions against the Irish in the North. The Republic of Ireland however remained neutral throughout the war; not willing to assist their longtime enemy of the UK, but also not willing to provoke it either. This neutrality would continue even today; with Ireland being one of the few non-Nato European nations. By the 1950s and 1960s the UK was losing many of its overseas colonies (especially in Africa) due to the instability with the UK itself from World War II. In the 1960s, the Protestant Northern Ireland government was persecuting Catholics, creating much rioting. The IRA was formed to reunite Ireland into one Catholic Republic. The Troubles began, from 1969 the PIRA engaged the British army and the British police force to unite the occupied north with the unoccupied south. Between July 3-5, 1970 the British Army launched large-scale house-to-house searches within the Fall district of Belfast. This Falls Curfew instantly escalated into violent protest and multiple skirmishes. While many civilians joined the IRA in attacking the police; the non-violent civilians were caught in the crossfire. There were many reports of the police abusing their power; including attacking the innocent and mass-looting. The Curfew was successful in capturing several IRA members and their weapons. However because of the crimes committed by the police, the IRA instead gained support and the divide between Catholics and Protestants intensified. Some historians cite the Falls Curfew as the spark that ignited the conflict into violent civil-war and unrest. In the first years of The Troubles the IRA made attempts for peaceful protests by associating itself with the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) movement. However on 30 January 1972 in the city of Londonderry; 14 protesters were killed by the British Army in an incident later dubbed Bloody Sunday. Free Derry were several neighborhoods that openly resisted British police and thus became an IRA stronghold. In the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, the British Army occupied the Free Derry area on 31 July 1972. The IRA bases were occupied and destroyed by buldozers; however many innocent Catholics were also displaced and targeted by the British Army. These events sent Northern Ireleand further into civil war and so peaceful protests were seen as unsuccessful as many became quickly suppressed by the intensified crackdowns by the British: which included kidnappings and Internment (arrests without trail), torture and forced evictions. The IRA created more No-Go Areas; which were invaded by the UK in similar ways to that of Free Derry (although since the IRA blended in with the civilian population, the UK raided neutral and innocent neighborhoods as well). 1972 became the deadliest year of The Troubles; with the IRA detonating 22 carbombs in Belfast in this year alone. The 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, England resulted in only one death; but this direct attack within England's capital city shocked the British Army and motivated them to intensify their involvement in The Troubles. The IRA would launch further bombings in England later on, and Anti-Irish sentiment would spread across England. The IRA eventually declared future attacks against England to be off-limits due to the political backlash. Loyalists vigilante and terrorist parties (who supporting British occupation, most of whom were Protestant) were created in response to the IRA: the most infamous being the Ulster Volunteer Force, who frequently massacred innocent Catholic families. These parties feared that the UK would eventually lose interest in maintaining Norther Ireland; so most Loyalist parties tried to maintain the war by provoking and attacking the IRA during times of ceasefire and negotiations. The 15–28 May 1974 Ulster Worker's Council Strike effectively shut downed the economy of Northern Ireland. Loyalist terrorists launched carbombings against the IRA and civilians alike; killing 39 civilians. These terrorist attacks dissolved the strike, as even the IRA could not protect themselves from these acts of terrorism. Other infamous events include; the Warrington Point bombing were 18 British soldiers died due to a PIRA bomb, or where 10 PIRA hunger strikers starved themselves to death to achieve political status in prison in 1981. One of the most famous events was the Mountjoy Prison Helicopter Escape, where 3 IRA members escaped prison thanks to other IRA members that landed a helicopter in the prison yard. But the most famous victim of the IRA was the 1979 assassination of Lord Louis Mountbatten, UK Prince Philip's 79-year-old uncle. Throughout The Troubles; the IRA and their associates were denied POW protection and instead faced severe brutality by their prison guards. The IRA would launch some of the most infamous prison protests in Irish history in response. Margret Thatcher infamously declared the IRA as criminals and not political prisoners; causing the 10 strikers in the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike to die from their self-starvation. Their deaths re-intensified The Troubles and the strikers, especially Bobby Sands, would be remembered as martyrs by Catholics. Despite being successful fighters, the IRA didn't receive enough support in their civil war to overthrow Northern Ireland as the IRA's terrorism and killing of civilians weakened their support. In 1998, the Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire, but other IRA groups like the CIRA are still active. The PIRA still claim that they are willing to fight again in the future for Irish unity, but for now use non-violent protests and marches. They claim to arm themselves only in self defense from police raids and arrest. It is believed that the IRA has some control over the criminal underground of Ireland. Even after the Troubles; open hostilities towards Catholics and Irish Republicanism is common in Northern Ireland; and terrorist and hate groups for both Irish Republicans and Ulster Loyalists still exist. Every year on July 11th (called the Eleventh Night), Protestants create bonfires to burn images of IRA symbols, including the national flag of Ireland and photographs of Irish Catholics. In 2001 the Holy Cross Girls Primary School was repeatedly attacked by protesters (some of whom were believed to be Ulster Loyalist terrorists) who opposed the Catholic School, the teachers, the students and their families as the school was deep within Protestant neighborhoods. This Holy Cross dispute is often compared to the Little Rock Nine incident in the USA; however Holy Cross had the entire school face persecution instead of specific individuals. While the protesters were Protestant; many Protestant politicians openly denounced the protests. Holy Cross continues to stay open; but still gets Loyalist terrorist threats including an attempted bombing on April 23, 2017. In an attempt to heal tensions, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was renamed and reformed as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 4 November 2001. While this police force was vital in combating IRA terrorism, it was accused of lynching and arresting innocent Catholics as well. One of the most powerful political groups associated with the IRA and republican independence is Sinn Fein, which holds official political power in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The organization officially supports Scottish independence as well. In 2012 the Real Irish Republican Army began unifying or absorbing other similar groups into itself, including former PIRA members. While violence in Northern Ireland is still minimal, the membership of this group might possibly be on the rise. On June 23, 2016 the UK left the European Union in an event known as 'Brexit'. This move outraged Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the two regions are considering to restart their independence movements in response. IRA Weapons Weapons Back for Blood In the Back for Blood special, two more weapons were tested for the IRA to give them the same number of weapons as the Spetsnaz. Battle IRA Taliban The battle starts with five Taliban militia climbing over a small hill leading to an abandoned car lot. They survey the area for potential targets. Meanwhile, the IRA is sneaking through the lot, using the cars as cover. The IRA leader leads his four men through the lot, but wind up running into the Taliban. Both sides manage to get off one kill with each of their assault rifles, the AK-47 and the AR-15 Armalite. Both teams scramble and run off in different directions. A Taliban member runs from an IRA man in between two cars. As the IRA man begins to catch up, he steps on a PMN mine and is killed by the explosion. The Taliban soldier escapes, but runs into an IRA member wielding an LPO-50 Flamethrower. He is set on fire and desperately tries to shoot in random directions, but dies before he can make a hit. Another Taliban member runs up and shoots the flamethrower's gas tank twice, causing it to explode and kill the IRA soldier. Another IRA man runs in between the cars, but is spotted by the aforementioned Taliban man. He pulls out his RPG-7 Rocket Launcher and fires a rocket at the IRA man, killing him. The IRA leader slowly enters a run-down trailer, keeping an eye out for the Taliban. He opens a closet door and sees a hand holding an AK-47. He quickly moves to avoid the gunfire, and then pulls out the Taliban boss from the closet. The two get into a fight, with the Taliban boss throwing the IRA leader against the cupboards. Outside, the Taliban member with the rocket launcher sees the two men and prepares another rocket. The IRA leader pushes the Taliban boss against the wall and knocks him to the floor, then looks out the window just in time to see the Taliban member with the RPG-7 pointed right at the trailer. He quickly runs out of the trailer, leaving the Taliban boss inside. The Taliban member outside fires the rocket, unaware that the IRA leader left without the Taliban boss. The Taliban boss gets up and sees the rocket flying towards the trailer, having only enough time to scream before the trailer is blown up. The other Taliban member picks up his empty AK-47 fitted with a bayonet, and runs after the IRA leader. The IRA leader turns and fires his slingshot, but misses. The Taliban man catches up and tries to stab him, but the IRA leader swings a car door in his face and forces him to drop the AK-47. The IRA leader and the Taliban man struggle to gain control of the bayonet. The IRA leader gains the upper hand, and stabs the Taliban man in the throat. A final Taliban member rushes in with his own AK-47 and tries to shoot the IRA leader, who picks up an Armalite and runs from the Taliban member, trying to shoot him as well. The chase leads to a broken-down bus. The IRA member runs into the bus and pulls out a nail bomb. He sticks it next to the exit in the back and get out. As the Taliban member enters the bus, the IRA member blocks the exit with the Armalite. The Taliban member tries to open the door, but is unable to do so. The IRA member begins taunting him with the remote and then runs away. The Taliban member sees the bomb and tries harder to open the door. The IRA leader runs to a safe spot, then presses a button on the remote. The bomb arms then explodes, killing the last Taliban member in ferocious explosion. The IRA leader raises his fist and yells "Eire!" (Ireland!) in victory. Expert's Opinion The reason why the IRA won was because they were better at fighting as a small group to defeat a larger group (the simm demonstrated this well by the lone IRA leader killing three Taliban soldiers), their skills at guerilla warfare, and the deadly accuracy of the AR-15 Armalite. Back For Blood Special IRA Spetsnaz The battle begins with 5 Spetsnaz soldiers infiltrating a warehouse serving as the IRA's headquarters. On top of the building, an IRA member spots them and takes aim with his HK G3 Sniper Rifle. A single shot downs one of the Spetsnaz. Inside the warehouse, an IRA member constructing a Nail Bomb hears the gun shot and realizes that there are intruders. The IRA sniper aims at another Spetsnaz soldier and fires, but he runs behind a tree and avoids the shot. The 4 IRA members inside start to load up on weaponry for their battle and look for cover for when the Spetsnaz team arrives. The IRA sniper tries to shoot the Spetsnaz man behind the tree, but misses again. Another Spetsnaz man lays on the ground and sets up his Dragonuv Sniper Rifle. He carefully takes aim and shoots, killing the gunman above and knocking him off the rooftop. He gets up and signals for the rest of his team to continue into the building. One Spetsnaz opens the door and is met with gunfire from two AR-15 Armalites. He fires back with his AK74 Carbine and ducks for cover behind drumbarrels. Another Spetsnaz soldier tries to assist him from the entrance with his rifle. The Spetsnaz man behind the barrels shoots up, breaking off some rubble which almost hits an IRA man. He tries to shoot back, but his Armalite winds up malfunctioning and is rendered useless. Now without a gun, he calls for the other IRA man with him and tells him to make a run for it. The Spetsnaz soldier behind the barrel calls for his team to run after the IRA. The two IRA men try to run away from the Spetsnaz, but one of the Spetsnaz men throws an RGD-5 Grenade at them. It blows up and kills one of them, but the other manages to escape the explosion. Two Spetsnaz soldiers run after the other IRA person, not realizing that they are passing by an armed Nail Bomb. They stop to shoot at him, with the bomb right behind them. The IRA man pulls out his remote and presses the button, detonating the bomb and killing one of the Spetsnaz soldiers. The other one gets up and continues chasing the IRA man. He enters another building and keeps his AK74 up and ready. As he turns a corner, the IRA terrorist jumps out and knocks the gun out of the Spetsnaz's hands. The IRA man tries to punch him in the face, but the Spetsnaz soldier elbows him in the side, flips sides with him, and starts to choke him. He then throws the IRA man to the floor and pulls out his Ballistic Knife. The Spetsnaz man tries to stab him with it, but the IRA man grabs his arm and tries to push it away. He is overpowered by the Spetsnaz, however, and is stabbed in the face. The Spetsnaz man gets up, only to see a giant stream of fire shoot from the corner. He starts to back away as another IRA member comes in with his LPO-50 Flamethrower at full power. The Spetsnaz soldier tries to run away and enters a room, only to find that it is a dead end. The IRA man show up at the entrance and sets fire to the entire room, burning the Spetsnaz soldier to a crisp. He nods in satisfaction and turns around, only to be staring down the barrel of another Spetsnaz's Saiga Shotgun. The Spetsnaz soldier fires and completely blows off the IRA man's head. The Spetsnaz soldier makes his way to the bathroom and cautiously opens the door. Believeing that the room is empty, he slowly starts to enter with the Spetsnaz leader following behind. Suddenly, the last IRA member jumps out and kills the Spetsnaz leader's last soldier with the Webley Revolver. The Spetsnaz leader tries to shoot him with his Makarov Pistol, but misses. The IRA man takes cover and fires at the Spetsnaz commander, but misses as well. He runs over to the toilets, dodging the Spetsnaz leader's gunfire. He takes aim and tries to fire again. However, the gun clicks, indicating that his revolver is out of bullets. The Spetsnaz leader sees this and starts to charge at him. The IRA man desperately tries to get another shot out of his gun, but the Spetsnaz leader quickly runs up to him. He grabs the IRA man and shoves the Makarov up to his throat. He fires the gun, and blood sprays onto the wall as the IRA man slumps over dead. Expert's Opinion The IRA's loss was credited to the Spetsnaz's professionalism. Their special forces training was far superior to the less organized IRA, and their weapons more reliable and effective than the improvised armaments of the IRA. Furthermore, as a rebel group, the IRA were exactly the type of foe the Spetsnaz were trained and specialized to fight. Trivia https://youtu.be/4SwQo42MOJ8 *To fund their cause, the IRA raised funds through donations and by running businesses such as taxi firms, social clubs, pubs and restaurants. **Some say that the IRA have also committed crimes such as robberies, counterfeiting, protection rackets, kidnapping for ransom, fuel laundering and cigarette smuggling to fund their organization. *One of the infamous splinter groups of the IRA were the Blueshirts and Greenshirts; fascist political movements that attempted to mimic the Brownshirts of Mussolini to reunify Ireland by force. Since the Italian Brownshirts overthrew their government in their 'March on Rome'; it was assumed that the Blueshirts were attempting a similar coup and so the movement quickly ended when the Irish government sent crackdowns against the group. The threat of the Blueshirts cause anti-fascist political parties in Ireland to merge into the Fine Gael; one of the major parties of Ireland today. *During the conflict, the IRA took on the role of policing in catholic/nationalist areas in Northern Irland as most catholic/nationalists saw the offical police force as biased aganst their community and distrusted them, as a resault the IRA commited many acts of vigilantism. If the offender had commited a minor offense they would be given a warning, be made to compensate the offendee or be forced to do community work but if the offender had commited a series offense (such as a sex crime) they would be punished with beating, kneecapping, being banished from the community or execution. *Irish Catholics normally identify themselves with the color Green while Protestants with the color Orange. St. Patrick historically wore blue colors, but the image of St. Patrick changed to him having green for the Irish identity. Irish claim that the 3 leaved shamrock symbolized the holy trinity. Protestants had an old tradition of having orange fruits on the end of pikes to celebrate festivals, especially with William III of England's victory of the Williamite–Jacobite War. *Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK where police carry firearms. *Before the 1600s; Irish avoided alcohol and instead drank milk. Before the 1800s; St. Patricks Day was a sober holiday. When under the Engish Empire; the English introduced beer to Ireland as English at that time avoided water which was normally contaminated in their native cities like London. It is believed that only in the aftermath of the Irish Potato Famine have the idea of drunken Irishmen been introduced as a stereotype. *The IRA avoids affiliating themselves with ancient Irish Celts as the Celts represented a time when Ireland was divided into different clans while the IRA seek unity. *The native Gaelic language was heavily repressed by the UK, which is why English is the dominant language of Ireland. This bias still visible today; as Northern Ireland has a significantly smaller per-capita population of Gaelic speaking people compared to the Irish Republic. Many Irish political movements have attempted to revive the Gaelic language to replace it as the dominant language in all of Ireland. Towns that were relatively isolated, especially in the west coast, avoided English repression and so were able to maintain their Gaelic language as their dominant language. Overall, it is estimated that 40% of citizens in the Republic of Ireland can speak Gaelic to some degree; and both the Republican government and news use the language. However overall daily usage of Gaelic has declined significantly. **French is a very common second language in Ireland as France has directly assisted multiple Irish revolts in the past. *The French Revolutionaries assisted the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in an attempt to repel the British. Instead, the British crushed the rebellion and implemented the repressive Acts of Union 1800. *Many anti-Irish sentiments originated ironically from the Catholic Church, which allowed the Church to justify invading and forcefully converting the island during the Middle Ages. England was influenced by this racism, which still exists today even over 1000 years after the fact. Even after being converted to Catholicism; the English Catholic Church did not consider the Irish as true Catholics until the English could 'civilize' them. Then when Henry the VIII made England Protestant; the Irish, who was so heavily influenced by the Catholics, was now seen as a barbaric enemy to the English once again. *Killing the final IRA member in the closet by spetsnaz commander is a reference to Vladimir Putin's famous quote "Мочить в сортире" (slay in toilet), as a radical method of dealing with terrorists. *The first time friendly fire had been shown in a battle when the Taliban killed it's own boss trying to aim for the IRA only for the enemy to flee from the blast. *The IRA vs. Taliban simulated battle was the first battle where a counter was used to show the number of remaining warriors on both squads. *The final IRA is the only modern warrior to take down 3 other modern warriors. *The IRA reappear in Crazy Horse vs Pancho Villa, as one of the warriors shown to use guerrilla tactics similar to Crazy Horse's. *In the "Back For Blood" Special, the IRA scored the worst amount of kills to date, with only 264 kills. 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